My One & Only

Ch 7: Mouse

Nini was skeptical.

She'd noticed Ricky's peculiar behavior over the past week. He'd been quick with his words and would find an excuse to leave her, he would fidget a lot when he was around her, and sometimes she'd spot sweat dripping down his head. She knows him too well to think there isn't something fishy going on; that suspicion was only confirmed when she recognized that Red was acting strange too.

Red was much more jumpy than Ricky and would flee if he saw Nini in the halls. She wasn't sure what secret they were hiding from her, but she sure as hell would find out. And she knew exactly where to start.

Ricky and Red had been more jumpy than ever today, so she figured this would be the best day to confront. She had hid her face behind her locker as Red walked down the hall since she knew he'd make a run for it if he saw her. When he got close enough, she hopped right in front of him, making him yelp.

"Oh, Nini! Hi, uh how are you? I didn't even see you there!"

"Cut the crap, Redonovich."

"Oh, okay."

"What the fuck is going on with you and Ricky?"

He nervously chuckles. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You're sweating bullets."

Red swiftly wipes away his sweat. "No, I'm not?"

"Red, what're you two hiding from me? You guys have been acting like I got the cheese touch or something."

"Oh, speaking of cheese, I ate some cheese this morning, completely forgetting that I'm lactose intolerant. So, I should really run to the bathroom now. Okay, bye Neens."

He ran away before she could get another word in. A part of his poor excuse just dawned on her. "Wait a minute; you're not even lactose intolerant!"

He didn't turn around despite hearing her and continued to run as far away from her as possible. She groaned and kicked the lockers in frustration. That was her only way of finding out what's up since she knew Ricky would never cave. She decided to just let it be for now since neither of them will budge anytime soon, but that won't stop her from being curious.

~

Nini stretched when she finally arrived on the sidewalk in front of her house. She was about to walk up her driveway, but she stopped when she saw a car that looked familiar parked a little bit down the street. It reminded her of Mike's car a lot, but she knew it couldn't be him since he'd be at work right now. And it couldn't be Ricky because he didn't steal his car when he went to school today.

She decided to shrug it off and went up her driveway. When she opens the front door, she doesn't bother checking her surroundings as she tosses her book bag aside. She took out her phone and began typing away.

"Mom, I'm home."

"Nini."

She stops and looks up from her screen when she hears her mother's voice, and you could imagine her surprise when she realized her mom wasn't alone.

There stood Mama D, Ricky, and Mike all waiting for her in the living room with concerned faces that only made Nini anxious.

She furrows her brows. "Um, hi?"

"Nini, darling. Why don't you sit down?" Dana pats the couch armrest.

"What's going on?"

Dana makes a tight smile. "We'll tell you in a bit."

Nini glimpses at Ricky and notices the somber look in his eyes, and something tells her that he was acting weird all week because of whatever this was. Nini slowly takes a seat on the couch and looks between the three of them.